Name

Aliases

Origin[]

After the fall of theUSSR the newly formed Russia decided they needed their own heroic team to rival the Americans. They merged thePeople's Protectorate withSiberforce, becoming the Winter Guard.^[4]Josef Petkus, the "Red Guardian," became the leader, now known as "Steel Guardian" along withDarkstar,Vanguard,Sibercat,Vostok,Fantasia andPowersurge.^[5]

Battling the Mandarin[]

The Winter Guard encountered the American heroIron Man on his hunt to find theMandarin. He encountered them mid battle as they were taking on a group of mercenaries. He explained that the Mandarin was responsible for the attacked and asked the them to aid him, but they refused to abandon Russia.^[5] Later theAvengers came Russia to aid them in battlingDragon of Heaven. They battled the Mandarin's forces and attempted to enter the Dragon of Heaven,Vostok tried to use his powers to control the vessel, only be taken over by the dragon instead. But Iron Man was able to destroy the Dragon of Heaven.^[6]

Sandstorm[]

The Winter Guard, usingDarkstar's powers, attempted to save the people in the town ofIrkutsk when a mysterious sandstorm hit the town.^[7]

Kree Invasion[]

The guard battle a group of mysterious aliens in theSmolensk.^[8] It was revealed the invasions was caused by theKree who had now become theRuul. They teamed up with the Avengers and the other heroes of Earth to fight back.^[9]

The Presence[]

ThePresence returned and planned to re-unite the Soviet Union by transforming its people into a race of zombie-like radioactive beings living under a communal mind. When the Winter Guard and the Avengers arrived he took control of their minds as well. His allies;Starlight, ultimately offered a surrender and used her own power to revive those who had been transformed and remanded herself and the Presence to Russian custody.^[10]

U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M.[]

The team facedU.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. lead byFlag-Smasher inNovosibirsk, who hoped to destroy sovereignty of nations throughout the world.^[11]

Death of Abomination[]

Crimson Dynamo teamed up withUrsa Major, a new DarkstarSasha Roerich, and a mysterious newRed Guardian. The new Winter Guard confrontedDoc Samson who was in Russia tracking aHulk-like creature who bested theAbomination and shot and killed him with a giant gun.Iron Man,She-Hulk,General Ross andMaria Hill fromS.H.I.E.L.D. were also there examining Blonsky's corpse. They fought the Americans until Ross found a survivor of the battle a little boy who kept murmuring the word "Красногоin" which in English means "Red."^[12]

Secret Invasion[]

During theSkrull invasion, a new version of the Winter Guard appeared, similar to the Avengers/50-State Initiative.War Machine descended back toward Earth after destroying a portion of the Skrull fleet. In an attempt to assist Russia in preventing the Skrulls from detonating all of the country's nuclear weaponry, War Machine engaged, but the Winter Guard were ordered to "prioritize" their targets. After War Machine escaped capture, the Winter Guard assisted him in taking down the last few ships of the Skrull fleet that were attacking Russia.^[13]

Invasion of Marinmer[]

The Guard were sent toMarinmer after an earthquake to protect the interests of Darqon Par. They battledLady Liberators who also arrived to help. The two battled but during the fightShe-Hulk was able to convince Red Guardian that the ruler of the country was dictator and he orders the Winter Guard to stand down and help the people.^[14]

Death of Darkstar[]

Darkstar was killed sacrificing herself to destroyIgor Drenkov; however, Vadim died in battle and was replaced byGalina Nemirovsky as the new Crimson Dynamo. Darkstar was replaced byReena Stancioff who was given her DNA but also had her latent memories. She was with the team when they faced theRemont 6.^[4] The team faced the invadingAtlanteans led byKrang^[15] But the new Darkstar died fightingFantasma and theDire Wraiths. One of Wraiths took the form of Darkstar and the possession of the gem, giving it her powers.^[16] It attempted to use theDarkforce powers on the team and theProtectorate, the Wraith was overwhelmed by her personality, resulting in a seemingly reborn Laynia. The teams defeated Fantasma and thePresence destroying the base.^[17]

King Hyperion[]

Hyperion came to the nation ofUzbekistan where he began to rampage until confronted by the Winter Guard. Defeating the team, he then found himself face-to-face withBlue Marvel who defeated Hyperion.^[18]

Intelligencia[]

They attempted to capture the super-villain groupIntelligencia, who used the Zero Cannon on them and sent the heroes to space.^[19] They later proved to have survived the experience.^[20]

Defenders of the Deep[]

In response to the increase of global tensions, marked by the Avengers answering toKing T'Challa ofWakanda and the formation of theDefenders of the Deep byNamor to drive off human presence in the oceans, the government of Russia revamped the Winter Guard. In addition of Ursa Major being brought back into the team from imprisonment and Dimitri Bukharin returning from retirement to lead the team, the Winter Guard saw the addition ofVostok, theSlavic godsPerun andChernobog, and the mysteriousRed Widow, the latter being tasked with observing the team and reporting to their superiors.

• The Winter Guard had a rotating membership, with each new member replacing anyone killed in action in the same identity.^[4]

• She-Hulk described the Winter Guard as "Russia's answer for theAvengers."^[3]

• Fantasy
• Sci-fi
• Marvel